William wandered around the Silent Forest in the dead of night. For him, there was not much difference between night and day since he had Dark Vision. His older cousin, Matthew, had taught him how to find the cardinal directions using the stars as a guide. His plan? To go to the center of the forest where he would meet his next instructor.
In time, he arrived at the lake at the center of the forest. The young boy took off his tattered clothes and jumped into the water to clean off the grime that had accumulated on his body.
The Phantom Noises kept ringing on his ears as the deafening silence held him in its embrace. After a month of staying in the forest, William had gotten used to the unbearable silence. However, as a Half-Elf, his sense of hearing was sharper compared to others.
His current condition sometimes made him feel dizzy and nauseous. When he was being hunted by Trent, William had needed a few days to get used to the discomfort. The silence also made him feel unbalanced. It was as if he couldn't move his body properly.
Taking into account the ever increasing weight of the bracelets, William felt that he was always in a state of unbalance.
The young boy sighed as he looked at the stars as he floated on the lake's surface.
'The stars are really different from the ones I saw back on Earth,' William thought. 'Still, this world is beautiful.'
William looked at the two moons that hung in the heavens. The bigger of the two, Ainar, had a bluish color. The other one, Artem, had a light-purple color. According to Matthew, a great war between the Gods of Hestia had ensued when the world was still young.
The battle was so intense that many Gods had fallen, including the Sun God Liane. When the Sun God died, the light of the world vanished and Hestia was enveloped in perpetual darkness.
It was then that the Gods realized their folly. After a truce, the war finally ended. But, the damage was already done.
Years passed and humanity's extinction was at hand. In an attempt to stave off the extinction of mankind, the twin Goddesses, Ainar, and Artem, sacrificed themselves in order to end the Dark Era of mankind.
The two beautiful moons bathed the world with its soft light and with it, the humans gained the power to fight back. A few years later, the new God of the Sun, Felix, was born. His light pierced the darkness of the night and illuminated the land with his radiance.
These three Gods watched over mankind. One during the day, two during the night. That was how the Dark Era ended, and humanity flourished once again.
William sighed as he remembered the Gods that had given him their blessing. Gavin, Issei, Lily, and David.
As if waiting for that cue, he received a notification from the system.
----
< Ding! >
< Congratulations! Host has received a 90% discount coupon! >
< This coupon will give you a 90% discount on any item from the God Shop! >
< Ding! >
< Special Quest Acquired! >
< Special Quest: Birth of a Warrior [1] >
-- This is a Chain Quest. The next Quest will appear after the host clears the quest's condition.
< Complete the Basic Training for one Job Class >
< Reward: 1000 God Points >
-----
'Special Quest?' William frowned. It took him a few minutes to remember that he had indeed gained this new function after meeting the Gods and clearing the Trial of Courage.
William opened the God Shop and saw countless items for sale. It was very similar to an online shopping site where you could order anything and have it delivered straight to your doorstep with a click of a button.
For a brief moment, the ringing in his ears disappeared followed by a sense of excitement. He spent the night browsing the God Shop in search of items that would prove useful for his journey through this new world of Hestia.
-----
Dwayne arrived at the clearing and saw a sleeping William beside the lake. The boy had drool spilling from the corner of his lips, which made the monk chuckle. He walked towards the unsuspecting boy, and was about to kick him to the lake when William's eyes fluttered open.
The red-headed boy rolled to the side and immediately propped himself from the ground. He then summoned his wooden staff and took on a defensive position.
Dwayne nodded his head in appreciation as he gazed at the boy who was looking at him with vigilance. "Trent's training wasn't wasted on you."
The monk eyed William and gauged his current strength. 'His stamina is at the silver rank, and his perception awareness is at least in the initial stages of the Gold Rank. Not bad for a ten-year-old.'
Dwayne took a step forward, and William jumped back. The shepherd looked at the monk vigilantly and prepared himself to run away at the first sign of danger.
"Relax, I'm not here to hurt you," Dwayne raised both of his hands in surrender. 'At least not yet.'
William still didn't lower his guard. He recognized Wayne. He was one of his Grandpa's trusted men, but he wasn't close to him. The young boy's instinct was telling him that this person was very dangerous.
"Let me formally introduce myself. The name is Dwayne," Dwayne said with a smile. "I am here to teach you the basics of Martial Arts. I hope the two of us get along."
"William," William replied hoarsely. "I look forward to your teaching."
Dwayne nodded his head. "Now, for our first lesson, put away that stick in your hand. You won't be needing it. What I will be teaching you is unarmed combat. That means that you don't need any weapons. I will train your body to become a weapon."
William reluctantly returned the staff to his storage ring, but he didn't lower his guard. He had become a bit paranoid due to the relentless attacks he'd suffered for an entire month.
"Ok, since we've finished our introductions, you will start calling me Master from now on," Dwayne stated.
"But, I already have a Master."
"Then you can call me Second Master."
"... I already have a Second Master," William replied in an awkward manner. Oliver, the Parrot Monkey had told him to call him Second Master during their training, and the Half-Elf had already gotten used to calling Oliver that.
Dwayne waved his hand as if it was not a big deal. "Then just call me Third Master. What I am about to teach you is the secret arts of my Sect. I mean, the secret art of my Ex-Sect."
Despite Dwayne having been excommunicated from the sect, he had already mastered everything he needed to learn while he was at the Monk Temple.
William frowned, but still nodded his head. Oliver had already explained to him that there were times when a single disciple had several masters. This was not uncommon in Hestia. Also, Celine knew that William would only be restricted if she prevented him from studying from the Master's in Lont.
With the ability to learn any kind of Profession, it was inevitable that William would have several Masters in order to guide him along the right path.
"William greets Third Master," William placed his hand over his chest and bowed.
"Good!" Dwayne laughed as he approached the boy. "Don't worry. I'll make sure that you won't regret calling me your Master."
And so, William's Monk Training started.
Dwayne had jokingly told him that he should shave his head according to custom. However, William adamantly rejected this idea. He really liked his hair and didn't want to be bald like Dwayne.
"Okay, I want to assess your current level in martial combat," Dwayne stood ten meters away from William. "Come at me and don't hold back."
William roared and charged at Dwayne using his movement technique. He circled around the monk and used his speed to his advantage. True to his word, the monk stood completely still and waited for William to initiate his attack.
Seeing that the monk had no openings, William decided to take a chance and attacked the side of his body with a roundhouse kick. Surprisingly, Dwayne didn't block nor dodge his attack. His attack landed squarely on the monk's waist.
Dwayne glanced at William and frowned. "Um, is that your strongest attack?"
"Yes," William replied. He looked at the monk to gauge whether or not he was just enduring the pain in his body. Although William wasn't that strong, his kick was strong enough to send a goblin skidding across the ground a few meters.
"Hah~ this won't do," Dwayne scratched his bald head. "You're too weak. Your attack is inefficient and there are so many wasted movements. This won't do. I need to really teach you the basics."
William felt that he was a failure after seeing the monk's disappointed face. What he didn't know was that this was the strategy that Dwayne had cooked up in order for William to take him seriously.
"Don't worry. By the time I'm done with your training, you won't even recognize yourself," Dwayne assured him. "Now, let's begin. First I will show you how to throw a proper punch. I will demonstrate it first. Make sure to watch me closely."
William narrowed his eyes and focused all of his attention on Dwayne's posture. Seeing that the boy was observing his movement, the monk unleashed a simple punch.
The monk's punch was slow enough for William to observe. He could tell that his new Master had limited himself in order to teach him the proper form of a punch.
Suddenly a loud explosion reverberated from the center of the lake. The water exploded and William was drenched by the drizzle it created.
"Now, it's your turn," Dwayne grinned. "The first thing we will need to train is your flexibility."
"Flexibility?" William asked in confusion. "Not punching?"
William was dumbfounded by his new Master's way of teaching. After showing him such an awesome punch, the red-headed boy was itching to practice punching like him. What he didn't know was that this was another scheme that Dwayne had cooked up in order for William to get invested in Monk Training.
"Why should we train with punching when you punch like a little girl?" Dwayne looked at him as if he was stupid. "Let's start first with the basics. Flexibility and balance training. We can move to punching after you master the drills I will be giving you."